


Falling Up

by writtensmitten



Category: The Yogscast
Genre: Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, M/M, Male Friendship, Reunions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-06
Updated: 2015-07-21
Packaged: 2018-04-07 22:14:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4279872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writtensmitten/pseuds/writtensmitten
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Ross' childhood crush is taken away from him in year 7 of secondary school, he's simply heartbroken. However, what happens 7 years later when fate reunites them at a University in Bristol?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! This is the start to my new multi-chaptered Smornby fic. The title, Falling Up, is taken from the collection of Shel Silverstein poems titled the same. Every chapter from hence forth will be named after another one of Shel Silverstein's poems that either inspired my thoughts for the chapter, or the name just simply relates to it in some way. I'm really excited to write more in this fic and I have so many amazing and devious plans for it, so hold on tight! But until then, here is the prologue that started it all.

_I tripped on my shoelace_  
_And I fell up-_  
_Up to the roof tops,_  
_Up over town,_  
_Up past the tree tops,_  
_Up over the mountains,_  
_Up where the colors_  
_Blend into the sounds._  
_But it got me so dizzy_  
_When I looked around,_  
_I got sick to my stomach_  
_And I threw down._  
**\- Shel Silverstein, Falling Up**

 

* * *

 

 

    It was an unusually sunshine-y day when Ross’ heart was broken for the first time. He stood in front of his school, 12 years old and proud of himself for muscling through the entire first year of secondary school without one single breakdown. This was all due to his shiny new friend, Alex, whom he’d been incredibly inseparable from for 8 whole months. A hand tapped at Ross’ shoulder and when Ross turned around excitedly he was greeted by a sorrow expression from his best friend. Ross’ eyebrows furrowed in concern almost immediately. He reached out for his friend’s hand, but Alex pulled away gently.

    “I’m leaving,” Alex mumbled quietly, hand going up to rub at a place behind his neck, unable to make eye contact with Ross. “My mum got a job in London. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before, I wasn’t ready then, and… I’m not exactly ready now,” Alex laughed pathetically, voice cracking a bit in doing so. He looked up at Ross to see a tear escape his eyes. Alex frowned and searched for anything to cheer Ross up with. He decided on a buttercup flower growing out of a crack in the sidewalk beneath them. He reached out and plucked it from the ground, holding it up to Ross’ face. Without another word Alex began to rub the buttercup on Ross’ chin, which made Ross laugh and make a worried face.

    “What are you doing?” Ross giggled, swatting away Alex’s hand. Alex pointed at Ross’ chin and smiled widely.

    “Your chin has turned yellow! That means you like butter!” Alex chuckled, clutching his own stomach to keep from doubling over in laughter at how ridiculous his best friend looked. Ross laughed with him, still confused as ever, but willing to let himself have this one last joke with Alex. “Either that,” Alex began as his gigglefit faded. “Or you’re in love,” He teased, pinching Ross’ arm playfully and making Ross’ cheeks turn a bright shade of pink.  
  
“Will I ever see you again?” Ross asked, shattering their lighthearted facade and returning the mood of the conversation back to a remorseful one. Alex twirled the buttercup flower between his thumb and index finger before gazing up at his friend and smiling brightly.

    “Of course you will,” Alex said matter-of-factly, thrusting the buttercup towards Ross’ hand. “I promise I’ll find you again,” he swore, handing the flower over to Ross. Ross sighed happily and clutched the buttercup close to his heart and nodded. Alex smiled one last time before leaning forward and placing a quick peck to Ross’ forehead before he turned on his heels and made his way towards where his mum was waiting by their car. Ross closed his eyes tight to fight back the tears before he watched his best friend walk away from him, not even turning over his shoulder once to glance at Ross. Ross looked down at the buttercup flower in his hand and kissed it gingerly.

   “One day,” Ross whispered to himself. “I’ll kiss you back.”


	2. Hinges

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wowie, sorry it took so long for me to post the first chapter! I've got so much planned for this fic, y'all don't even knoooow what you're getting into hahahahah. Anyways, enjoy! Any and all feedback is welcome and appreciated. ♥ You can also read this over at my Tumblr, yogkelli. http://yogkelli.tumblr.com/post/124631312624/falling-up-chapter-one-hinges

_If we had hinges on our heads_

_There wouldn’t be no sin,_

_‘Cause we could take the bad stuff out_

_And leave the good stuff in._

**\- Shel Silverstein, A Light in the Attic**

 

* * *

 

 

“I can come back whenever you want me to. You just say the word and I’m here, I mean it-” Ross’ mother begins to ramble, unable to let go of her son as they hug their goodbyes.

 

“Mum, come on, I know.” Ross nods his head, squeezing his mother’s hand as he turns over his shoulder into his new dorm room. His roommate has yet to arrive and he’s hoping to God that he won’t pop in while his mother is suffocating him with affection. “You know I love you. I will call and email you whenever you want me to. You can go now, I’ll be fine.” Ross’ mother squeezes her eyes shut tight and nods her head, patting her son’s shoulder firmly and holding back tears.

 

“You’re all grown up now, huh?” She says with a fond smile. “I love you too, Ross. I’m always a phone call away. Don’t hesitate if you need to talk.” Ross smiles back at her and places a hand over hers where it lay on his shoulder.

 

“Goodbye, mum. I’ll see you during fall break.” Ross says calmly. His mother surges forward for one last hug before she turns and heads for the nearest elevator. As she presses the down button she turns and gives Ross a quick wave and an air kiss as she enters the elevator and allows the doors to close in front of her. Ross sighs in relief and returns to the confines of his new bedroom. His new home away from home. He collapses onto the way-too-firm bed and winces when he remembers that the mattress topper isn’t in place yet. Ross picks up his phone from the side table and begins mindlessly scrolling through old text messages.

 

[ **Jacob** , 11:13am] _good luck movin in m8. see ya when i see ya._

 

Ross scoffs and rolls his eyes. _‘Some way to say goodbye to someone you were in a serious relationship with less than 2 days ago.’_ He thinks to himself as he deletes the message from his history, not even gracing it with a response. Ross buries his face in the pillow in front of him and lets out a deep breath. As he begins to get adjusted to the stiffness of his new bed a loud _thump_ yanks him away from serenity. Ross’ head snaps up as he looks towards the door. A short, brunette boy with swishy hair is standing in the doorway with arms outstretched and a wide grin.

 

“Roomie!” The boy practically shouts, stepping over the box (the dropping of which must have been where that _thump_ came from) in front of him to clasp Ross in a giant bear hug as he removes himself from the bed. Ross laughs awkwardly as he pats the shorter man’s back. Pulling back and gripping Ross’ elbows, the brunette beams upwards at him. “I’m Chris!” He says, all too happy-go-lucky. “Chris Trott, at your service.” Ross smiles down at him and nods his head.

 

“I’m Ross. Ross Hornby.” He says with a genuine grin and a tilt of his head. Chris turns around suddenly as if he remembered something.

 

“I have a housewarming… Well, dorm-warming, present for you!” He says as he begins to rifle through the mess that is this cardboard box in the doorway. And where is the rest of Chris’ stuff anyway, or is all that he has to his name contained in that one small box? Ross considers all of this as he looks at the mess of boxes on his side of the room. Ross never did understand the saying ‘less is more’.

 

“Oh, mate, you really didn’t have to do that.” Ross says as he shifts his weight from side to side awkwardly, obviously uncomfortable about not having a gift to give Chris in return. Chris waves his statement off as he continues to search.

 

“Nonsense. Don’t worry about it. It’s a hand-me-down anyway! I didn’t have to spend a single pound on it.” Chris replies as he lifts a box up in victory, as if he’s a character in a video game that’s just opened some legendary chest. Chris turns towards Ross, a smile still plastered over his face as he approaches him and thrusts the box out in front of him. “Go on, open it,” He says with almost too much enthusiasm. What keeps this little guy going, anyway? _‘I’ll have what he’s having’,_ Ross thinks to himself. He makes quick work of the makeshift newspaper gift wrap surrounding the present as he opens the box to find a copy of GoldenEye 007 for the N64. Ross chuckles to himself as he removes the cartridge from its container and looks at it fondly.

 

“Thanks, mate. How’d you know I was a gamer?” Ross asked, examining the back of the cartridge and thumbing over the words on the front. Chris shrugs his shoulders.

 

“I didn’t. But we were matched as compatible roommates so I went out on a limb,” Chris says with a smirk. Ross shakes his head and thanks all mysterious forces around him for landing him a cool roommate who’s not a complete psychopath like he thought he might get. Well, he’s not too familiar with Chris yet, which does leave room for the development of a crazy person. But either way, he’s just glad that they have this in common at least. Chris smiles one last toothy grin before returning his attention to the small cardboard box in the door frame, Ross sits down on his stone tablet of a mattress and begins to shuffle through a box of video games, mentally noting which to file away for later and which to keep out for quick access. Just as their dorm room door is closing shut from Chris’ gentle nudge with the back of his heel, a strong hand clasps the door right before it closes. Startled, Ross looks up from his basket of games and watches as the door slides open to reveal a tall, beautiful brunette with quite possibly the most heart-stopping smile he’s ever seen in his life. The wind is almost knocked out of him as their eyes meet, and he feels as if he has to clutch to the games basket in order to keep his soul from escaping his body and ascending to the heavens. The taller man leans in the doorway, crossing his arms over his chest in the most attractive manner. Is this man trying to kill Ross with his good looks?

 

“Well, Chris, are you going to introduce me to your roommate?” The boy quips, looking between the two and then letting his eyes rest on Ross. Ross feels his face flush slightly as he grips the basket even tighter.

 

“Oh, right!” Chris says cheerily, practically prancing over to his friend in the doorway. “Well, that fella over there is Ross Hornby.” He says with a fancy flick of his wrist and then gestures back towards the tall man. “And this, Ross Hornby, is my good friend-”

 

“Smith.” The tall man says with a cocky smirk. “My name’s Smith.” He says with a small nod of his head. Ross smiles a bit and nods back.

 

“Nice to meet you, Smith.” Ross says politely. absentmindedly stroking the rim of the games basket on his lap.

 

“Likewise,” Smith purrs, gazing at Ross as if he’s trying to figure him out. As if he’s trying to see right into Ross’ heart and soul. The way someone would look at an old friend to find what’s changed in them. Ross averts his eyes, embarrassed as he reaches a hand up to rub at the back of his neck.

 

“How about we set up the TV and get a crack at that game, huh?” Chris says as he elbows Smith in the side. Smith winces but smiles down at the shorter man.

 

“Nah, mate, I’ve got to finish moving in. Though you look like you haven’t got much work to do.” Smith teases, pointing at the lonely cardboard box labeled CHRIS TROUT in sharpie. Chris laughs and rolls his eyes, giving Smith a love tap on the back as he shoos him out of their dorm room.

 

“Whatever, just get going already, you killjoy,” Chris says with a shove. Smith pops his head back in the room briefly to address Ross one last time.

 

“It was good to meet you, Ross Hornby.” Smith says with a smooth wink of an eye. Ross inhales sharply and nods.

 

“Y-yeah,” Ross stutters, licking his top lip quickly. “You too,” He finally replies as Smith disappears from their room. Chris shuts the door and rolls his eyes.

 

“Smith can be such a tool,” Chris grins as he begins to search through his one cardboard box again, taking out some clothes, shoes, an alarm clock. “Don’t let him get to you.”

  
“I’ll try not to…” Ross mumbles, feeling his face still burn at the way the handsome man had winked at him. Smith… He’s going to have a hard time thinking straight for the rest of the day, that’s for sure.


End file.
